Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: One Night's Shopping (2)
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World Health Safety League (WHSL) Korean Branch.
Oh Ji-seong couldn't hold back any longer and let out a shout.
"Team Leader Shin Na! No! Please reconsider!"
The woman called Team Leader Shin Na had long straight hair that fell to her waist, tied up high in a ponytail.
Jeans and a white shirt suited her like an ad model, her tall frame boasting a sleek waist and legs like a cheetah's, plus an aura that naturally made you want to call her "noona."
She looked at the bulky Oh Ji-seong—who stood over 190 cm tall—like he was a child.
"Ji-seong. I've already got full approval from upstairs."
"Then! Let me go!"
"You little punk. Don't get cocky. We're talking about scouting an ARPS Maker of unprecedented strength. Even the team leader can't go alone—where do you think you're fitting in?"
"Team Leader! No, Senior! It's dangerous!"
"That's exactly why I'm going. Charging in as a group for the first scout could backfire, so just one elite. Got it? Not some deputy trash, but Team Leader Shin Na."
Oh Ji-seong didn't reply, just glared at Shin Na with reddened eyes.
"I don't get it. Why is upstairs—and you, Senior—rushing like this..."
"What's not to get? You know it. An ARPS Maker is a ghost story that keeps spawning ARPSes. We secure and isolate it before it makes more ghost stories. Speed is key, so today."
"Even so, we just got the report today and you're heading out right away...? Senior, let's investigate more and go safely..."
"I'm the one doing the investigation. And safety? In our line of work? Coming back alive by luck is safety enough."
Shin Na chuckled and patted Oh Ji-seong's shoulder.
"Ji-seong. I know you like me, but let's keep personal feelings out of work. And like I said before, I like guys with a bit of otaku vibe. Evangelion's Shinji is my type, okay? You're too alpha male."
"Senior!"
"Ah. Shut it."
She hummed a tune as she tied the red thread on the desk to her pinky finger and the bill from the Rational Gacha Machine to the other end.
"The origin of this item. KEH will be my destiny."
As she raised her pinky with the red thread to chest height and muttered,
Whoosh!
Flames erupted, burning the thread and the bill tied to it completely.
⚙ ARPS ITEM ⚙ <Fate's Red Thread> #ARPS-NTS-19023 The red thread symbolizes fate. This pollution source, wrapped around failure, binds the two objects tied to its ends together within one hour. In the tangled threads of destiny, the unexpected may become entwined as well. Shin Na smiled brightly.
"Perfect. No backing out now. I'll be entangled with this KEH thing within the hour. No idea if it's a living ghost story, machine-type, location-type, or what."
Oh Ji-seong didn't look at her. Head bowed, he chewed his lips and spoke.
"It's dangerous. Getting tangled with KEH is risky enough, but it could link you with something unwanted too."
Seeing that, Shin Na burst out laughing.
"That face is kinda otaku-cute right now."
"Senior!"
"Don't worry. Last time I used this, guess what unexpected thing I got tangled with?"
"..."
"That guy. Office Nero. Picked him up that day."
Shin Na nodded toward the black kitten curled up sleeping in the corner of the office.
"Senior..."
She answered his desperate plea with a single smile, then spun around and slung a beige jacket over her shoulders.
"Alright, off to field work."
She left the building and melted into the night streets.
Into the night streets where she'd entangle with KEH within the hour.
And one hour later.
Her footsteps through the alley suddenly led into an endlessly vast indoor space—pitch black, with no walls or pillars visible.
Sparse, dimly lit spots far apart illuminated something below them, but otherwise, it was just endless darkness like the open sea.
"Tangled with KEH in a place like this? Or is the space itself related to KEH?"
Moving slowly, muffling her footsteps toward one of the faint lights, she arrived at the scene before her and had to grit her teeth.
"What... is this hell...?"
+++
📜 How to Get to the Market 📜 2. Go straight up to the 5th floor, then down to the 4th. "5th floor."
The 5th floor of the darkened shopping mall wasn't just dark—it felt chillingly cold.
"Straight down to the 4th."
One step. One step. Each time her foot hit the stairs below, her heart pounded.
Now, all sorts of doubts flooded her mind.
'Is this really okay?'
The method from the Shadow Office was just bluntly labeled "How to Get to the Market."
No explanation of what market, what to do once there—nothing.
Was blindly following it right?
It had to be the ghost story market.
Shouldn't there be rules to memorize before entering a place like that? That's what the Ghost Story Gallery posts said.
Anxiety crept up her spine.
No. It's fine.
The Shadow Office told me this.
I have to trust it. The Shadow Office is my fixer.
But.
Wasn't the Shadow Office a ghost story too?
Her foot stopped dead.
Right.
The Shadow Office. It's a ghost story.
Cold sweat dripped down her back.
Is this really okay?
She'd momentarily forgotten. Because of childhood memories with the dream entity. She'd only thought positively. Everything the Shadow Office suggested would be fine. It was on her side.
But,
the reason ghost stories are problems
is that their goodwill can be a disaster to humans.
Even if the Shadow Office taught her this out of kindness, the result could be fatal to her as a human.
Was she too,
careless...?
Drip.
Sweat trickled down her chin.
But...
In the end, she started walking again.
"Right now. I need to escape the immediate threat."
The scene she'd glimpsed earlier through another's eyes lingered in her mind—the man from what seemed a secret organization mentioning KEH and its dangers.
The biggest issue was her ignorance. What that organization could do, how far they could reach—she knew nothing.
What if they found her tonight with some bizarre method she didn't know?
What if they discovered she'd created a ghost story?
Isolation would be lucky.
Execution might be a mercy.
Maybe torture followed by dissection.
That could be a fate worse than dying to a ghost story.
Maybe they wouldn't find her?
Who knows...
That seemed more naive than heading to the ghost story market.
Yeah.
This is right.
Gain inspiration,
craft ghost stories,
prepare countermeasures.
She moved her feet.
Legs trembling, but she steadfastly descended the stairs.
Finally, the 4th floor.
3. As soon as you descend, without stopping, spin in place quickly while counting to ten.
The moment her foot touched down, she spun rapidly in place, marching.
"One. Two..."
Counted to ten.
"Ten."
4. After counting to ten and lifting your head, walk straight in the direction you're facing until you reach stairs.
She raised her head, the world tilting as if to topple. Staggering to steady herself, she walked blindly forward. As dizziness faded, the corridor end led to more stairs.
5. Don't encounter anyone through this process.
6. When stairs appear, go up one step, then immediately turn and go straight down.
Good. No people encountered.
"Hoo. Let's do this."
Up one step, then immediately turned and descended.
Step. Step. Step.
The stairs never ended no matter how far down.
7. Exit the stairs to the next floor before three pass and four arrive. That place is the market.
Down.
Keep going down.
No side floors to exit, just endless spiraling stairs downward.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Then,
A woman with long dangling hair climbed up from below the stairs.
Staring at her with blood-red eyes, thud. Thud. Thud. passing by upward.
Thud.
Then footsteps stopped above her. Paused, staring?
Chills prickled, but she didn't look back. Having posted many creative ghost stories on the Ghost Story Gallery, she knew reacting to ghost stories was one of the worst responses.
She continued down at steady pace.
"P-person! Hey!"
A shadow huddled below the stairs lifted its head.
A woman in office attire.
"Hey! Do you know where this is? I suddenly got lost in this weird place. The stairs don't end..."
She jumped up, climbed toward her, and called out.
"Hey! Why no answer? I'm scared. Do you know how to get out? Huh?"
She gritted her teeth, ignored her,
and as she stepped past,
"..."
The desperate calls cut off. Would she be there if she looked back now?
Of course not looking.
Two so far. Two passed.
Just one more to go...
"Fo... Fo..."
!!!
At first, she thought it was a pillar mid-stairs.
No.
Startled by the thing blocking her path, she slowly looked up...
"Fo..."
So tall it hunched from the ceiling, long-haired something peering down, teeth gleaming like blades.
"Fo. Fo. Fo."
It didn't pass her, blocking her way with spider-like long limbs, grinning. No intention of letting her go.
Slowly lowering its head toward her.
Darkness gleamed in its wide-open maw.
Come to think of it, this was her first time.
Facing a real ghost story.
Not one she'd made. But one existing in the world. Today was the first.
Couldn't breathe.
The world had things like this. In the darkness she didn't know. Terrifying things killing and eating people.
Frozen solid, unable to move,
Roll.
The eye badge of the Responding Bear Doll pinned to her chest rolled its pupil and made a sound.
"...Fo"
The long, massive thing flinched and backed away.
Roll.
The eye badge rolled again,
"Fo... Fo..."
It hunched its shoulders, moved its long leg aside.
"Fo... Fo..."
Thud. Thud. Sound of skipping multiple stairs, fading away.
"Hoo... Ha... Hah..."
She gasped for breath on wobbly legs.
Alive? Survived? No time for that.
Just now. Sent off the third one.
So...
"Before the fourth comes. Get off the stairs."
What kind of market demands this?! Damn it!
She ran down fast. After two turns, the next floor appeared.
Leapt off the stairs like diving into darkness, sprinting wildly.
"Hoo. Ha. Hah."
Only after distancing herself from the stairs did she catch her breath.
"Hah. Ha... Did the Responding Bear help?"
She stroked the badge on her chest with trembling hands. The smooth, cold touch calmed her a bit.
Her ghost story. Protected her.
Makes sense why the Shadow Office recommended fingers and the badge... Foresaw this?
Thank it? Or chew it out for not warning sooner?
"First. First. See the market, go home, then think."
Her mood felt like climbing a cliff. Too tiring to go up, but too far down to retreat—like just a bit more to the summit.
She steeled herself and looked around.
"But what is this place? Just darkness. So vast. No walls visible."
Phone flashlight on, no walls or pillars. How big was it?
Just faint lights scattered far off.
"First. Head that way..."
In case, turned off flashlight—light might provoke something in the ghost story market.
Guided by distant faint lights, she groped through the darkness.